Gingerbread Animals

Retire your gingerbread man cookie cutter for a year and have some fun decorating animal shapes with different colors of rich, royal icing.

Total Time: 0:50

Prep: 0:40

Level:
Moderate

Yield:
4 boxes of 12 cookies

Ingredients

Cookies

3½ c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. coriander

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. salt

1½ stick unsalted butter

⅔ c. light-brown sugar

½ c. dark corn syrup

¼ c. molasses

Royal Icing

4 c. confectioners' sugar

6 tbsp. Warm water

3 tbsp. meringue powder

Brown, pink, and red gel food coloring

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour, ginger, coriander, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and molasses; cook, stirring frequently, until blended. Pour into flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms. Cover and refrigerate until cool enough to handle, about 1 hour.

Divide dough into 2 equal pieces and pat each into a square. Roll out each square between 2 sheets of lightly floured parchment to 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a baking pan, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 1 to 1 1/2 hours.